


The Bathing-House Excursion

by toushindai (WallofIllusion)



Category: Baccano!
Genre: F/F, Fade to Black, Flirting, Unless I decide to continue it later which I might
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:31:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8289163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WallofIllusion/pseuds/toushindai
Summary: Lucrezia brings Carla to the bathing-house.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written in response to an ask meme prompt from [memethighs](http://memethighs.tumblr.com/)!

In early 18th-century Europe, bathing was generally a minor, private affair. Tubs were made of wood, lined with linen to protect the bather from splinters, and it was common to only wash the areas of skin which were not protected by clothing. But the House Dormentaire, being who they were, flouted the conventions of the day. They had some years ago erected an enormous bathing complex, based on the public baths of Roman times, outside Madrid. Of course, despite being based on public baths, the use of this bathing-house was restricted to members of the House Dormentaire and their explicitly invited guests.

Today, Lucrezia de Dormentaire had come alone with her guard. Carla stationed herself near the entrance to the _caldarium_ , the room with the heated bath, and turned herself politely away from her mistress’s nakedness as Lucrezia sank into the bath with a hum of satisfaction. For a time, there were only quiet splashes and further pleased hums as Lucrezia enjoyed herself in the water. But then—

“How many tiles are there, darling?”

Carla started, though her posture didn’t change. “Tiles, milady?” she asked in what she was fairly certain was a neutral tone of voice.

“In the mosaic around the door, sweetheart. You’re counting them, aren’t you? To keep yourself from turning around to look at me?”

Carla closed her eyes for a moment, mortified by her mistress’s insight. Before she could guess whether Lucrezia actually wanted her to say how many tiles there were (just over a thousand, incidentally), the noblewoman spoke again.

“Carla, you do know that if I brought someone else here, anyone else, they would be sneaking a peek at me every chance they got? Or they wouldn’t even bother peeking and they’d just turn around and gape at me, getting themselves all hot and bothered.”

“Yes, milady,” Carla agreed.

“And you _know_ I wouldn’t mind that, don’t you, darling?”

“Yes, milady.”

Carla knew what kind of game Lucrezia was inviting her into. It had been obvious from the moment she’d stepped into the bath: Lucrezia would coax and tease and wear away the barriers that made them master and servant, leaving only their relationship as lovers for a few hours. And Carla was more than willing to embrace that relationship. But to step into it herself—to even steal a glance at her mistress’s bathing form without being ordered to do so—was something she couldn’t do. It was fortunate that Lucrezia was as impossibly, cursedly forward as she was, or else Carla would have been left to desire her in vain for the rest of her life.

She would admit to herself, though, that her skin prickled hopefully when she heard the sound of water shifting behind her and imagined that Lucrezia was pulling herself out of the bath to come embrace her from behind. She collected herself with a quiet breath—

But Lucrezia’s touch didn’t come.

Instead, Carla heard a pouting sigh.

“Well,” the noblewoman said, “all that aside, if you want to join me today, Carla darling, you’re just going to have to make that decision on your own. I’m _far_ too comfortable where I am right now to come and get you.”

Carla froze. Under her uniform, her skin prickled with a warmth that she could not responsibly blame on the heat of the room. Lucrezia’s words were not an order. They were something far more daring than that: they were an invitation.

One which Carla was free to respond to however she would.

Carla’s head spun. She felt her pulse twitching in her wrists with a vague unease; more insistently, though, she felt a flush creep up her cheeks as she began to welcome the thoughts that she had been studiously banishing to the back of her mind since Lucrezia’s announcement of her plans for the day. She let herself know what she knew: Lucrezia wanted her. This was empirically clear. And from that premise and her actions thus far, it followed that Lucrezia was avidly hoping that Carla would turn and observe her and be lost in desire for her.

And if that was what Lucrezia desired, wasn’t it Carla’s duty—

No.

Duty aside, it was what Carla herself desired, too.

Carla took a deep breath and turned around.

Lucrezia was leaning over the edge of the bath, her arms folded over the side and her chin resting atop her arms. When she saw Carla turn, she perked up.

“Oh! You made your decision ever so much faster than I expected, darling! I was thinking of a whole _speech_ about how wonderful and silly that self-control of yours is, and now I don’t even get to use it. You’d better be ready to listen to it later, because I just would hate to waste it.”

“Yes, milady,” Carla responded automatically, even as she tried in vain to wring a rational thought out of her suddenly desire-drenched mind. She couldn’t have looked away from Lucrezia if she had tried. The noblewoman lifted one hand, smiling, and crooked a finger in Carla’s direction, and Carla strode forward and found herself kneeling by the edge of the bath before she realized she’d moved. She curled one hand around the back of Lucrezia’s neck, and Lucrezia’s bare arms draped over her shoulders, and they kissed.

“Mmm…”

Lucrezia had lifted her upper body out of the water in order to reach Carla, and Carla’s free hand shook with the desire to touch her—but before she could work up the courage to do so, she felt a firm tug around her neck and found herself tumbling into the heated pool with an enormous splash.

It took her less than a second to wrest her head above water again, but Lucrezia had already burst into laughter by then. She took one look at Carla’s soaking-wet face and laughed even harder, swooping in for another kiss. Carla dodged.

“Milady,” she protested, more baffled than indignant, “my _uniform_ …”

“I brought you an extra, don’t worry,” Lucrezia answered wickedly, and made another attempt to kiss her. This time, Carla didn’t move away. She found herself pinned against the edge of the bath, Lucrezia’s naked body pressed against her clothed one. Her hand moved up Lucrezia’s spine, and Lucrezia kissed her harder in appreciation.

“You know,” Lucrezia said when she pulled back, “the sooner we get you out of those clothes, darling, the more likely it is we’ll be able to salvage them.”

And Carla was not about to argue with that.


End file.
